Windows 8: who cares? Not that many people, apparently

Users remain significantly less enthused about Windows 8 than they were three years ago about the
then-unfinished Windows 7, according to data from an analytics firm.

The new numbers from California-based Net Applications hint at a lukewarm reception for Windows 8.

Just 0.18% of all the computers that went online during June ran one of the previews of Windows 8, statistics
Net Applications showed last week. Of those PCs running Windows, 0.2% -- or 20 out of 10,000 -- were powered by
Windows 8.

As in April, when Computerworld last used Net Applications' data to analyze
Windows 8 uptake, the new OS' June numbers were dramatically lower than Windows 7's at the same point in its
development.

In June 2009, four months before its launch, Windows 7 accounted for 0.75% of all computers and 0.80% of all
Windows machines. In other words, Windows 7's share was four times that of Windows 8.

Even when the different release dates of the previews for each operating system are taken into account, Windows
8 still comes up short, although the disparity is not as pronounced. In the first full month after each sneak
peek's release, Windows 7's share of all Windows PCs was two to three times greater than Windows 8's.

Four months after its Consumer Preview's debut, Windows 8's share of all Windows machines was lower than Windows
7's just seven weeks after the launch of its beta.

Other comparison also put Windows 8 in a poor light.

Windows 8's June 2012 share of 0.18%, for example, represents about 2.9 million machines of last year's
estimated global installed base of 1.6 billion PCs. Windows 7's 0.75% from June 2009, meanwhile, translates into
about 9.4 million systems of that year's smaller installed base of approximately 1.25 billion.

The bottom line: More than three times the number of people ran Windows 7 at the T-minus-four-month mark than
ran Windows 8 at the same point in its development.

The gap between Windows 8's and Windows 7's pre-launch adoption has widened in the last four months. (Data: Net
Applications.)

The operating systems have had an equal opportunity to win hearts and minds: Microsoft delivered two early
versions of each to the public. They also appear to be on the same shipping schedule. Windows 7 went on sale in
October 2009, and although Microsoft has not yet set a release date for Windows 8, most experts expect that it will
also launch in October.

If Microsoft watches these numbers -- and there's no reason to think it does not, since the company regularly
cites Net Applications' data when it discusses Internet Explorer's browser share -- it must be disheartened by the
comparisons.

Not only does Windows 8 compare unfavorably to Windows 7, but the gap between the two has widened. Two months
ago Windows 8's share was half of Windows 7's three years before. Since then the difference between the editions
has doubled, with Windows 8's June share only one-fourth of Windows 7's in that month of 2009.

Unlike post-launch share data, the early returns are not tainted with new PCs that come with an operating
system. Rather, users chose to install the previews of Windows 7 and Windows 8, and thus the share figures
represent a more accurate picture of customer interest in the upcoming operating system itself, not in the desire
-- or need -- to acquire new hardware.

Net Applications' data, of course, doesn't preclude Windows 8 from flourishing once new systems running it reach
stores and the upgrade becomes available for purchase by those who don't plan on replacing PCs. In fact, Microsoft
has priced the Windows 8 upgrade at an all-time low of $40 in
a promotion that starts when the OS ships and ends Jan. 31, 2013. The price cut could jumpstart Windows 8.

But even Microsoft has tacitly admitted that Windows 8 will be a hard sell to some, notably enterprises. In
mid-2009, several months before Windows 7's release, Microsoft told enterprises to dump
deployment plans for that edition and shift to Windows 7.

Copyright 2016 IDG Communications. ABN 14 001 592 650. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of IDG Communications is prohibited.